>> Friday, March 13, 2009

Another quick note...I have the privilege of emceeing the Charlotte Kidney Walk tomorrow morning out at Latta Park. It is a great cause, and we would love to have you out there. Registration begins at 8:30am with the walk at 9:30am and awards following. If you are out there, come up and say hello!

I mentioned the workstation here at work crashed earlier in the week. Good news is a new workstation is up and running...bad news is all of my video software and files are wiped clean. So, it is a process to get that going. Hopefully I will be able to cut a new video Monday morning.

In the weather department, our chilly, damp conditions have arrived. Temps will hover in the upper 40s and lower 40s much of the day today, and we will see occasional rain.

I still anticipate periods of rain Saturday and Sunday with highs in the 40s in most spots.

Exactly when this pattern breaks is a bit of a question mark. The GFS actually has Sunday mostly dry, but most other modeling keeps rain chances in place through Sunday and even into Monday. That is the same idea I had going in the forecast from yesterday, and I will roll with that today.

Love this time of year. If you like college basketball, this is your season. Mississippi State had a nice win yesterday pver Georgia in the SEC Tournament down in Tampa. Next up....South Carolina today!

>> Thursday, March 12, 2009

**No new edition of the Carolina Weather Video today. My workstation here in the weather office crashed yesterday.**Our change in airmasses is well underway, and it will be a while before we see any 70s or 80s again. Today, we will see a good bit of clouds with highs in the low to mid 50s for most.

Most Piedmont locations should remain dry today, although the day will feature lots of clouds. By late tonight, the chance of some light rain will arrive, and periodic light rain will be possible tomorrow. Tomorrow will be very chilly with highs in the upper 3os to lower 40s at most.

Periods of rain will be with us Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Over the weekend, some steady rains will likely occur. Highs Saturday will struggle to make the lower 40s with highs up into the 40s Sunday.

At this point, it looks like we will dry things out and warm things up by the middle of next week.

**I want to take a moment here and invite all of you out to the Kidney Walk Saturday morning. The event will take place at Latta Park in Charlotte. This is the second year for this event being put on by the National Kidney Foundation. Again this year, and I have privilege of being an emcee of the event. Check-in begins at 8:30am with the walk beginning at 9:30am.

>> Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Above is today's edition of the Carolina Weather Video. A ton happening in our weather....give it a watch.

Enjoy the warmth today....the spring-like temps end today, and they won't be back for a while. Highs this afternoon should hit the upper 70s to around 80 in many spots.

A cold front will slide through late today, and an arctic high pressure will move into perfect cold air damming position tomorrow. Tomorrow's highs will be around 30 degrees cooler than today with mid to upper 40s to lower 50s at best.

A cold, rainy stretch of weather will unfold for us Friday through the weekend. Highs Friday will only be in the 30s in many Piedmont locations with 40s for highs through the weekend.

I have some concern about freezing rain potential in the northwest Piedmont and foothills, especially Friday morning. Freezing rain is fairly rare this late in the season, but this is a classic cold air damming scenario, and it certainly looks at least possible that some freezing rain could occur in that region. We will monitor this closely.

Next week, the forecast is a bit uncertain. With this morning's forecast package, I have included a chance of rain Monday through Wednesday with continued cool temps. It is worth noting that the 0z GFS cranks out significant snows in the western Piedmont around Tuesday. However, that solution is an outlier amongst the other modeling, and for the time being, I will discount it.

>> Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Whew....felt more like late Spring than late Winter out there yesterday. We are still mild today, but not as warm with highs ranging from the mid 60s to lower 70s.

We will squeeze in one more really warm day tomorrow with highs in the upper 70s to around 80. But big changes are looming on the horizon. Friday through the weekend still look quite chilly with rain chances in play. Highs all three days will likely be in the 40s, and the heaviest rain will likely occur Sunday.

>> Monday, March 09, 2009

Wow! What a weekend! We spent a lot of time outside over the weekend enjoying the weather, and it felt good to open up the windows and let some fresh Spring-like air into the house.

Today will be fantastic once again with highs in the upper 70s to around 80 under a mostly sunny sky.

We will see a brief cool-down tonight and tomorrow, but temps will still be above average. Highs tomorrow will mainly be in the mid to upper 60s.

The warmth will surge Wednesday again with highs in the mid to upper 70s, but then some big changes occur.

A significant period of cold air damming will occur beginning late Thursday, and it will last all weekend. This will mean MUCH colder temps....low to mid 40s Friday through the weekend at best, maybe even upper 30s Friday...and it will also mean good rain chances each day.